The Russellville Democrat., 1887-12-14

rsi uers oas ,a, at includes 2-s 4 A
 F. ss ss 12, 29oi Jl5 5miIlip -S--~--"''' viii be
 4Sducted from
 .4J, t43 carpenters and | Ju- -ers, dressInalsers and scam stress .,lacksmiths 133, 756 tailors and tailoresses, .12, f73 masons, 76,24i butchers 4I 3O9 bakers, 22,053 plasterers, and 4.591 engaged in manufacturing agricultural implements, amounting in the aggregate to ,2fs,n23 leay- ing 2623,u u69 persons employed in such manu- featuring industries as arc claimed to be bene- fitted by high tarif. To these the appeal Is made to save their employment and maintain their wages by resisting change. There should be no disposition to answer such sugges- tions by the allegation that they are in a mi norfty among those who labor, and therefore should forego an advantage, in the interest of compensation, as it may be af- fected by the operation Of tariT
 laws, should at all times be scrupulously kept
 in view; and yet with slight infection they will not overlook the fact that they are consumers with the rest; that they, too. have their own wants and those of their families to supply frcr- cir earnings and that the prices Of the essss... - S of life, as well as tho amount 1 necassar., ,~syll regulate the msau..ns-s e a>e6{
 their wages, sssssu BnI - l1s their welfare anu comfoi .Nle1l4h6 reduction Of taxa tion demanded should be so measured as not to necessitate or justify the loss Of employment 1 by the workingman nor the lessening of his wages: and the profits still remaining to the manufacturer after
 
 furnish no excuse for the sacrifice of the inter ests of his employees either in their opportunity | to work or in the diminution of their compensa- 1 tion. Nor can the worker in manufactures fail l to understand that high tartf is claimed | to be necessary to allow the payment or re- muneratve wages, it certainly results in very large increase in the price of nearly all sorts of manufactures, which. in almost countless | forms, he needs for the use of himself and his | family. He receives at the desk of his employer his wages, and perhaps before he reaches his home is obliged, in q purchase for family use of an article which embraces his own labor, to re-
 turn in the payment oi @ the increase n price 1 pensation of many days of toll.
 The farmer and the agriculturist, who manu- | facture nothing, but who pay the increased price which the tariff imposes upon every agri- | cultural implement, upon all he wears and upon all he uses and owns except the increase Of Ills | focks and herds and such things as in his hus- | bandry he produces from the soil is invited to | aid in maintaining the present situation; and I he is told that high duty on imported wool is | necessary for the benefit of those who have sheep to shear, in order that the price Of their | wool may be increased They, of course are not | reminded that the farmer who has no sheep is by l this scheme obliged. in his purchases of cloth ing and woolen goods, to pay tribute to his l and merchant; nor is any mention made of the | fact that the sheep-owners themselves and | their households. must wear clothing snd use other articles manufactured from the wool they | sell at tariff prices, and thus as consumers must return their share of this increased price to the | tradesman.
 | I think 1t may be fairly assumed that a large proportion of the sheep owned by tho farmers throughout the country are found m small | focks numbering from twenty-five to fifty. | The duty on the grade of imported wool which | these sheep yield, is ten cents each pound fl | of the value Of thirty cents or less, and | twelve cents ifof the value of more than twelve cents. If the liberal estimate Of six pounds be allowed for each fleece, the duty thereon would | be sixty or seventy-two cents, and this may be | taken as the utmost enhancement of its price frrftr dn,..ss would thus represent the increased price I Of the wool from twenty-five sheep, and thirty six dollars that from the wool Of fifty sheep; | and at present values this addition would | amount to about one-third of it's price. If upon
 its sale the farmer receives this a less tarifi | profit, the wool leaves his hands charged with the consumer. When manufactured into l cloth and other goods, and material for it's use, l it's cost is not only increased to the extent of | the farmers tarin profit. but further sum has l been added for the benefit of the manufacturer under the operation of other tariff laws. In the meantime the day arrives when the farmer | finds it necessary to purchase woolen goods and | material to clothe himself and family for the winter When he faces the tradesman for thai purpose he discovers that he is obliged not only | to return in tho way of increased prices his | tariff profit on the wool he sold and which then, perhaps, lies before hlm in manufactured form,
 crease in cost caused by tariff duty on the manufacture. Thus in the end he IS aroused to the fact that he has paid upon a moderate purchase, a result of the tariff
 scheme, which, when he sold his wool, seemed
 so profitable, an increase in price, more than sufficient to sweep away all the tarid profit he | received upon the wool he produced and sold. | When the number Of farmers engaged m l wool-ralsing is compared with all the farmers
 iu the country, and the small proportion they bear to our population is considered: when it ! is made apparent that in the case of a large part of those who own sheep, the benetlt of tho present tariff on wool
 is iilnsory: and above all when it mus, | be conceded that the increase Of the cost of l living caused by snch tarin. ecomes burden upon those with moderate means and the poor, l the employed and unernpoved the sick and | well, and the young and old, and that it consti- tutes tax which, with relentless grasp. is 1 fastened upon the clothing of every man, woman and child in the land reasons arc sug- | gested why the removal or reduction of this duty should be included in revision of our | tarn laws.
 ! In speaking of the increased cost to the con snmer Of our home manufactures, resulting l from q duty laid upon imported articles of the same description, the fact is not overlooked
 that competition among our domestic producers l sometimes has the effect Of keeping the price of | their products below the highest limit allowed l by such duty But if is notorious that this l competition k too often stranplcd by comb bina- i fions. quite prevalent at this time, and ire | qbently called trusts, which have for their ob. | Ject the regulation f the supply and price of commodities made and sold by members of the combination. The people can hardly hope for any consideration in the operation of these selfish schemes. If, however, m the absence | Of such combinations, q healthy and free com | petition reduces the price 0f any particular ! dutiRblc article of home production below the | limit which 1t might otherwise reach under our tafin laws. and A. with such reduced prices, itE manufacture | continues to thrive, ft is entirely evident thnt 1 one thing has been discovered which should be carefully scrutnized in an effort to reduce taxa 1 tion. The necessity of combination to main tain the price of any commodity to the tnrin l point furnishes proof that some one is Willing l to accept lower prices for such commodity and that such prices are rernpnerative. and lower prices produced by competition prove the same thing Thus Whero nither of these conditions exist a case woald seem to Dc presented Tor au 8asy reduction cf taXetfun
 The eonsldefaiILns whieh have been pfasent.